After the shock of conceding a first-minute goal to Barcelona, Manchester United had recovered to equalise through Yorke. Probing the left side of the home defence, Roy Keane rolled a pass inside towards the Tobagan 25 yards from goal… whereupon Cole takes up the story.
“Dwight dummied it and as soon as he let the ball run I knew that he wouldn’t stand still, that he’d make a run So I thought I’d play a one- two Dwight could either go on himself or knock it back to me. Fortunately for me, he knocked it back.” Unfortunately for Ruud Hesp, Barca’s Dutch goalkeeper, Cole knocked it past him.The scorer’s analysis talks of what he “thought” he would do. However, the most striking aspect of the build-up was the apparent lack of deliberation and the part played by intuition, or “telepathy” as Wilf McGuinness, the former United player and manager, characterises it. When Yorke stepped over the ball he knew instinctively that Cole was behind him and moved instantaneously for the pass which was duly played.Cole, in turn, anticipated precisely where to run for the reciprocal pass from Yorke. In a matter of seconds the ball nestled in the Catalan net, prompting Alan Hansen to hail the goal as “a masterpiece”.Since that game, which finished 3-3, the understanding that was blossoming between United’s front two has burgeoned, perhaps even beyond Alex Ferguson’s expectations.

Beckham, whose crosses enabled Yorke to give United a 2-0 first-leg lead over Internazionale in their European Cup quarter- final, says the pair’s perpetual motion make his job easy.Going into the second leg in Milan tonight, Yorke has amassed 26 goals and Cole 21. The latter’s brace in Saturday’s win at the club who sold him for pounds 7m, Newcastle, means it is already the most prolific partnership of the Ferguson era, overtaking the mark set by Eric Cantona and Mark Hughes in 1993-94. Yet what really sets apart the double act which could bring the Treble to Old Trafford is the transparent pleasure Yorke and Cole take in making goals for each other.In his mind’s eye McGuinness, a former Busby Babe and England player, can still see Tommy Taylor in tandem with Dennis Viollet before Munich. He worked with Best, Law, Charlton and Kidd, and admired the link between Hughes and Brian McClair. But he has no hesitation in hailing Yorke and Cole as Old Trafford’s best attacking partnership “by a mile”.”The funny thing is that they’re basically similar players,” he says.

“They’re not the classic pairing of a strong spearhead and a foil who feeds off him. They’re both fast, darting strikers whose biggest asset is movement off the ball and sharpness in the goal area.”They’ve both got quick feet. They’re both good at shielding the ball, with surprising upper-body strength. Both turn well, and they’re better in the air than you’d expect for their size.”The fact that they are also bosom pals – Yorke rang Cole when he could not find the training ground on his first day and they immediately hit it off – has enhanced their relationship on the pitch, according to McGuinness. “It shouldn’t matter if you don’t get on with a certain team-mate.